Basketball from a fans perspective
Nobody is watching
I continue to be amused by the occasional letter stating; “Nobody is watching the NBA.” Usually I read these types of responses after a predicament has occurred and is widely discussed. This is news although I doubt we’ll be reading any negative letters. The 2016 NBA All-Star Game drew 7.6 million viewers up 6% over last season. Wait somebody is just itching to write nobody is watching NBA basketball. It should be of note usually the "Nobody is watching" guys locate the NBA page on a sports website, why go to all that difficulty?
What does it take?
No scouting job is easy; I cannot speak to hockey or soccer (football). I believe I can address baseball, football and basketball. Of those sports a quality football player might be easier to discover than a baseball or basketball player. How does a scout access the baseball talent of an 18-year old? Does his fastball project at the major league level? I’m going to give Stephen A. Smith a pass here, accessing Euro players might be the most difficult job of all. Euro basketball is light years improved over 10 or 15 years ago but questions remain. Smith’s critical remarks about Kristap Porzingis might be understandable because little was known about him.
My criticism of Smith had to do with his over the top assessment, he should have allowed the guy to demonstrate his skill or lack there of in NBA Summer League play. I just finished reading a scouting report on Dragan Bender from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Physically Bender resembles Porzingis 7-1 and 216 pounds but there is no intent on my part to say the two are the same player. Bender is listed as the number three pick in the DraftExpress mock draft, NBADraft.net also has him as number three. All I can say is I’m glad I’m not being paid by anybody to scout prospects.
Giant killer
The 16-11 record (as this is written) of Northern Iowa is not particularly outstanding. Unless UNI has a stellar post-season it’s likely they will miss an NCAA invitation. Despite their won-loss record they have proven they can beat many of the elite teams. In November they beat North Carolina at the time ranked number one in the nation.
The following month they upset their state rivals the Iowa State Cyclones, Iowa State was ranked number five in the nation. They didn’t exhibit any love for Wichita State the day before Valentine’s Day they upset number 25 Wichita State at Wichita State‘s house. This is certainly proof the term “mid-major” is irrelevant as North Carolina, Iowa State and now Wichita State has surrendered to UNI.
Carolina Blue
Shea Rush is headed to North Carolina to play for Roy Williams in the fall. Shea is a 6-6 wing player at The Barstow School a preparatory school located in south Kansas City. He’s the son of former standout Jaron Rush who played at Pembroke Hill in the late '90's. People who witnessed Jaron play still argue whether he was the best high school player the metro area produced. Although Shea is not has highly touted as his dad he is talented, it’s likely this is only news locally you will not see his name on Rivals or any other list of 2016 prospects. Shea’s been offered a “spot as a preferred walk-on” according to the Kansas City Star.
